An MIT computer science student and a Google researcher have come up with a lot simpler method to transfer open applications between a PC and a cellphone.

Research project Deep Shot by MIT’s science grad student Tsung-Hsiang Chang and Google’s Yang Li is a groundbreaking new system that will allow users to transfer open applications from PCs and cellphones by simply capturing the photo of the open application from the PC’s screen with the help of the cellphone’s camera.

It means a user will be able to move an open application between a PC and a cellphone by just capturing a photo of a desktop screen instead of manually typing everything out again on his/her handset. The same process also works in reverse by moving data from a handset to a desktop computer.

Tsung-Hsiang Chang said people currently have to use heavy tools to move data or synchronize two PCs and handsets.

Speaking on the topic, he added, "You have to plug in a USB cable and maybe open iTunes and synchronize a bunch of data at the same time. But sometimes you just want to send a tiny bit of information, or a single piece of information."

The process makes use of existing computer vision algorithms to identify an open application on the screen of a desktop.